To kill 6 kilos with one stone

I always struggle when I hear someone talking about stones, inches, pounds and all those units of measurement that are used in the most of the countries that were part of the British empire, and that are called Imperial system for that reason, opposed to the SI, or International System of Units. I even went through 3 terrifying seconds at JFK airport when my suitcase, which was supposed to be under 23 kg, went on the scale and had a weight of 47! My heart literally bumped, especially thinking that I didn’t buy any souvenirs, and that it was not even reaching 22 kg before I added that wonderful Nivea moisturising lotion that was my first purchase in American soil. Those seemed some of the longest 3 seconds of my life, until I realised that the expressionless, unfriendly face of the guy at the desk meant that I was safe from having to sell a kidney to pay the overweight, and that those numbers meant pounds.

The only easy conversion for me is km<>miles, because one mile is around 1.6 km, and that is easy to do. Almost all the English speaking countries kept the imperial system even after abandoning the empire. The one that I know for sure has switched to the SI is Australia, and I remember it because the really funny tour guide, who drove us to the Blue Mountains and first introduced me to the Australian culture on site, said to us: “Between 1970 and 1988 we had a transition from one system to the other, then we just kept the metric system, so everyone else in the world could understand us. About the driving, though, we kept the British one, because it is makes more sense. Don’t forget that Europeans drive on the right side, but we drive on the correct side!” Yes, he quoted the right dates, but I had to look them up right now! Also, he expressed is not too friendly opinion about American, who didn’t get one right, choosing the European driving side, and the imperial system of units!

Anyway, tired of reading of people who lost a stone and of recipes in ounces, when not in cups, I decided to look up some information online and to do a quick post for all of you. If you are thinking that you can achieve the same result with the conversion websites, you are also right.

Let’s start with weight:

Kilograms (kg)

Ounces (oz)

Pounds (lb)

Stones (st)

1

35.27396195

2.204622622

0.1574730444

1oz

28.350 g

1 lb

0.45359237 kg

1st

6 kg 350.29 g

Now length:

Metres (m)

Inches (in)

Feet (ft)

Yards (yd)

Miles (mi)

1

39.3700787402

3.28083989501

1.09361329834

0.000621371192237

1 in

0.0254 m

1 ft

0.3048 m

1 yd

0.9144 m

1 mi

1609.344 m

Related to these ones are the units to measure the area:

Hectares (ha)

Square metres (m2)

Acres (ac)

1

10000

2 ac 20519 ft²

1 ac

0 ha 4046.9 m²

Then temperatures:

In this case, there is an equation that we learn when we are young and innocent, and that we then forget because it has no space in the little cupboards of our brain, but here you have it again

ºC to ºF = ºC (9/5) +32

ºF to ºC = ºF -32 (5/9)

Or also, quicker:

Celsius

Fahrenheit

-10

14

-9

15.8

-8

17.6

-7

19.4

-6

21.2

-5

23

-4

24.8

-3

26.6

-2

28.4

-1

30.2

0

32

1

33.8

2

35.6

3

37.4

4

39.2

5

41

6

42.8

7

44.6

8

46.4

9

48.2

10

50

20

68

30

86

40

104

50

122

60

140

70

158

80

176

90

194

100

212

Finally, cooking conversions are a real headache, and I have found a really useful website, so I am going to copy the charts from there: